DSI: Dig Scene Investigation

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Those of you familiar with the popular CBS television drama CSI know that the forensic detectives and lab technicians on the show are Crime Scene Investigators who use physical evidence to solve sometimes-grisly murders. Although Biblical archaeologists aren’t usually trying to fight crime and their cases take longer than 60 minutes to complete, work on a dig can be just as full of excitement, puzzling clues and hi-tech gadgetry as the stories you see on TV. Here we run down some of the aspects of an archaeological dig so you can see if you have what it takes to become a “Dig Site Investigator.”

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The Usual Suspects

Many people come together to pull off the perfect dig, and each one is crucial to the success of the excavation. The dig directors get the necessary approval and permits for the dig, raise funding from donors and other sources, formulate the excavation and research strategy and oversee all aspects of work at the site. They are aided by capable staff members, often experts in their fields, who assist with everything from architectural drawings and photography to pottery cataloguing and scientific analysis. Area supervisors are assigned to each area and square of the excavation to track the progress of the digging, keep records and answer questions as they arise. Finally, volunteers are the backbone of every dig, providing the muscle and energy to complete any task asked of them—whether it’s digging and hauling away dirt, doing drawings, taking measurements, or cleaning and sorting pottery, to name just a few.

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The Scene of the Grime

You’ve probably noticed that the names of many archaeological sites in the Near East start with the word Tel/Tell or Khirbet (e.g., Tel Dan or Khirbet Qeiyafa). A tell is an artificial mound formed by the accumulated remains of one or more ancient settlements on top of one another over the course of repeated destructions and rebuildings. The word khirbet means “ruins” in Arabic and simply refers to sites where ancient ruins are visible on the surface. Many sites are divided into areas by the excavators, with each usually given a letter designation (Area A, Area M, etc.). Each area is then further divided into a grid-like pattern of squares or trenches, often measuring 5 by 5 meters. At the side of each square there is sometimes an unexcavated strip called a balk, which retains a vertical record of the strata, or chronological archaeological layers, in the square. The balks might be left intact, but other times they are removed after being carefully drawn, photographed and recorded.

The (Not So) Secret Weapons

Archaeologists have a vast arsenal of tools at their disposal for investigating ancient sites. Before the digging even begins, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), global-positioning systems (GPS), satellite photos and survey equipment help the team get the lay of the land and what may lie below. A pickax or a patishe (Hebrew for “hammer”) comes in handy for digging and breaking up the earth before loading it into a bucket or a gooffah (Arabic for “basket”), which is made of recycled rubber tires. For the finer, more delicate work, trowels, brushes and small wooden picks are used carefully to remove the dirt from fragile finds and important features. Often the excavated dirt is then shaken through a sieve to try and capture small finds that may have been missed at first. When a find is discovered in the trenches, meter sticks and line levels (and now sometimes high-precision GPS equipment) are used to record the exact location of the object in three dimensions. A digital camera is used to photograph the find—both in situ and after it has been excavated. A Joshua or Josh cloth, named for the Biblical military leader who stopped the sun and the moon (Joshua 10:12–13), might be brought out to cast shade on a square or artifact while it’s being photographed in order to control the light and bring out archaeological details. And one of the most important tools on a dig in recent years is a computer, where every find, stratum, photo, drawing and written description can be quickly and easily recorded and saved.

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The Evidence

A summer’s worth of digging can produce an enormous wealth of information. The word “find” refers generally to anything of archaeological value discovered on the dig. Pottery sherds, or fragments, are ubiquitous at ancient sites, and diagnostic sherds—those that include part of the handle, rim or base and/or have decoration or writing on the surface—are especially valuable for understanding the people and time period of the site, as are coins, architectural elements, human or faunal remains and especially inscriptions. Photos and drawings done at the site, including aerials, top plans (views drawn from above) and sections (views drawn from the side) are essential for later study, since continuing excavation constantly removes and transforms the visible evidence in the ground.

Back at the Lab

After digging is done for the day, most afternoons are spent washing, reading and cataloguing pottery. Some excavations are even adding wet sifting and flotation to the routine in order to extract every last small find and bit of organic material from the excavated earth. Recently archaeologists have also been exploring the many ways in which the latest scientific techniques and technologies can be used to an excavation’s advantage.^a Carbon-dating is a popular method for dating organic materials, such as seeds or wood, and therefore assigning a time period to the associated archaeological remains. Residue analysis and mass spectrometry are now offering additional insights into the foods and commodities that ancient peoples consumed and traded. And Geographic Information Systems (GIS) offer a powerful digital platform for recording and organizing the countless pieces of information collected on a dig.

Making Their Case

Doing an excavation is only the first step in the process. Since archaeology is a destructive science and an ancient site can never be returned to its pre-dig state, it is equally important that archaeologists publish their findings so the public and other scholars can learn about them. There are many ways this can be accomplished: by giving talks to the public and presenting papers at scholarly conferences, writing articles for peer-reviewed scientific journals and for BAR, and by publishing preliminary and final excavation reports. Unfortunately this crucial step is one that proves most difficult for many archaeologists, but there are continuing efforts to alleviate the problem and make all archaeological material widely available.^b

The Verdict

Dozens of excavations go into the field every year to try to find answers to ancient questions, identify little-known cultures and solve history’s puzzles, but they can do it only with your help! So volunteer on a dig this summer. Become a Dig Site Investigator.

Help solve the case of the missing history. An archaeological dig may not have all the glitz and glamour of a TV police drama, but the clues you’ll gather and the evidence you’ll examine will have a real-life impact on our understanding of ancient cultures. Our annual guide to excavations can help you find the dig that’s right for you.